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Having an opinion is an art

Put two dots with a pencil relatively far on paper. How many lines can you draw between the two?

A casual answer would be one.

Now move closer to the dot.. The dot starts looking bigger. Move closer. It gets bigger. Now you see a circle filled with black colour. Similarly, the other dot is also a circle filled with black colour. Now the same question, How many lines can you draw between the two circles?

Infinite.

So it’s relative, depending upon where you are, the size varies. Imagine yourself inside an atom, sufficiently smaller that, when compared to your size, the electron would look like the earth. U would be astonished to see the symmetric view of the atom, looking exactly like the solar system! If you imagine yourself sufficiently large that, the earth would look like an electron to you, the solar system would be a dot!

So in the perspective of someone gigantic, if we are living in a dot, then there would be another person sufficiently large, making the universe look like a dot!

No Big Bang nothing. We are in an excellent design where everything is symmetric. That’s why it’s said,

Great! So we feel printing more currency notes and distributing it to the poor is a solution to India’s financial crisis. Taking this idea forward, even our debt with the World Bank can be cleared. So cheesy right! But is this a ‘valid’ solution? May be or May not be. To get closer to the truth let’s first see what printing more currency means.

Let’s say I have 10 Gold coins, each weighing 1 gram. Due to obvious reasons, all my needs couldn’t be met by these coins. After thinking in the shower for a while, I get an Idea. What if I melt all the gold coins, take the 10 grams of molten gold and make 20 coins out of it. So I’m going to have 2o coins. Yeah, you got it right! Each coin has now become half a gram which was previously one gram. In the quest for more coins, we have sacrificed the amount of gold in each coin. Logic dictates that, if I have to buy a chocolate worth 10 grams of Gold, I have to give all 20 gold coins as each coin now has only half a gram of Gold. So technically we get nothing new. This brings us to a Catch-22 situation.

We get to a similar conclusion by printing more currency. I know it looks like a thin sheet of paper, a currency note is not exactly it. It has a value termed as the ‘purchasing power’. More the currency we print, less the value of the currency, less its purchasing power. Though the real-time variation in money value is much more complicated, the basic theme is not different. Interestingly Zimbabwe used our non-patented printing idea and results were as expected.

A person in Zimbabwe carrying money to buy a loaf of bread. It costed him 35,000,000 dollars absolutely.

Importantly, the discussion here, gets us to a bigger stream of intimacy. The relationship issues between the U$ Dollar and the Indian रupee. Well, the relationship status is complicated. Bigger questions rise at this point. Why does Rupee succumb to the US Dollar? What impact is this fall creating back home in India? To feel the origins of the problem, let’s travel back in time.

Before life began, God said, let there be two countries in the world. India and USA. And then he created Dollar to USA and Rupee to India. God was not partial. He said, let the Dollar equal the Rupee. One Dollar = One Rupee. And then came people exchanging goods with their skill for their needs. And then the problem started.

India being an agricultural country produced 1000kgs of wheat in surplus. US being a techno-nation produced 1000 extra Laptops. Both the nations decided to exchange their surplus production for money. 1kg of wheat = र10. So US bought the 1000kgs of wheat by paying India $10,000 (1000kgs x Rs.10). At the same time India decided to buy laptops. 1 Laptop = $100. So 1000 laptops costed India र 1,00,000. So, ‘India’ by selling wheat got ‘dollars’ – $10,000 and ‘US’ by selling laptops have ‘Rupees’ – र1,00,000. Both of them decided to go to an exchange board and get home currency.

The present exchange rates are, “1 Dollar = 1 Rupee”. Life is easy for India presently, It exchanged the 10,000 Dollars with 10,000 Rupees out of 1,00,000 Rupees the US have. Now US has 90,000 Rupees. It needs dollars desperately. The 90,000 Rupees it has won’t work for US citizens. So, US now badly needs a buyer of those rupees in exchange for ‘much needed’ dollars.

After 3 months, comes a young lady in US who wants to set up a business in India. She has $10,000. But she needs rupees. So she goes to the exchange board. She sees the desperation of US for exchanging the 90,000 rupees it has. Then she says, “Well, all I have is 10,000 Dollars. Exchange those 90,000 rupees for these dollars.” Though US got shocked by the cruel deal, it didn’t have any other alternative. It finally agreed. 10,000 Dollars were exchanged for 90,000 Rupees, which means the new exchange rate is, “1 Dollar = 9 Rupees”

Now, by extracting milk from water, we find two important indicators.

1. Demand for Dollar-Rupee – If Demand for dollar rises in the market, its inevitable for the rupee to succumb.

2. The quantity and quality of the goods we export and import. By importing costly goods like Petrol, Diesel, Gold, Electronics and exporting cheap goods we again make the rupee dive.

The impacts of depreciated Rupee are well-known. Imported products get costlier and costlier. Not only the luxuries like Gold and Branded items, but also basic necessities like Petrol and Diesel. This impacts all the other local goods depended on Petroleum products because transportation becomes costly. Hence Inflation (Rise in Prices).

So, the Talisman is – Produce High end specialized goods for exporting by promoting Industrial Growth. This will lessen your burden on the compulsory imports. Last but not the least, Elect a Government which make sure that this happens.

“It’s been 7 years now since you’ve been gone but your essence will surround me forever..

I remember that night when we were having our dinner on your birthday in our army home.. and that phone call that you are needed by the country.. I still remember the last time you kissed me, I still feel it on my forehead every day.. your voice I crave to hear, my eyes wait eagerly for your sight, I long for your touch, my heart sinks when in bed.. 7 years and I know you can’t come back now..Today we complete 10 years of marriage.. Happy anniversary Love!

You know our son is 6 now.. and he’s just like you ..his eyes have the fire that yours’ had, he too loves paneer.. your favourite na? he loves you a lot and is proud to have you as his father!”

Sameer’s trip with Eesha to the Taj this time was indeed special. A long friendship turned into commitment when they realized what they meant to each other.

“You are the most beautiful girl in the world.” Sameer said gazing into Eesha’s eyes. The way he said gave her butterflies. The feeling was as cute as the Taj Mahal beside.

“I have heard this a million times from many. But didn’t get this feeling this from any. For the first time ever, my heart believes the words. It actually wants to. I feel loved. I feel special.” Eesha replied with awe.

“You are special honey! Just as Taj, for a symbol of love!” Sameer added with his eerie voice.

“Taj? A Symbol of love? I think by now most of us know that it’s more lust than love. Do you mean it that way?” She winked.

“I mean it the way it is meant to be. It’s love. What is making you think that way?” Sameer was now serious.

“It is surprising! I thought you were good with History,” Eesha began. “It’s quite popular that, Mumtaz was Shah Jahan’s fourth wife, out of his seven wives. She died while delivering her painful 14th child on the maternity bed. And the lustful Shah Jahan married Mumtaz’s sister after her heartrending death. This shows his itchy character. Added to that, this place was actually the temple of Lord Shiva – Tejo Mahalaya. And –”

Sameer stopped her with an I-know-this-shit look. He gave her a sheepish smile and said, “Do you believe in what you said? Do you trust it?”

“Of course, I do.”

Sameer let out a sigh. “The soul of your words is missing the track of truth! But do believe it. Believe it more. Believe it strongly that you find the truth.”

Eesha looked confused. “Please add light to what you are trying to say. I’m not getting a word.”

Sameer is now trying to catalogue his thoughts. He begins, “To know the truth, one has to get intimate with the lie. That’s how truth emerges. The more you justify the lie, the better the truth you find. It’s like churning curd. Milk is fat emulsified in water and so is curd. More the curd you churn, more the fat comes up. Leaving the water behind. Lust is the lie and Love is the truth”

Eesha’s carved eyebrows arched with intrigue. “Continue,” she said.

“In this experiment with the truth, we begin with a short rapid-fire. Start. Is love a personal issue?”

“Yes.”

“Is marriage a personal thing?”

“Of course, yes.”

“No. It’s not!” Sameer replies gazing directly into Eesha. “In India, marriage happens when the Bride’s family falls in love with groom’s family. In a traditional Hindu or Muslim marriage, the boy sees his fiancée during the marriage or sometimes after it. Marriage is a responsibility. It is much a social phenomenon. The concept of boy and girl seeing each other, loving, marrying, is much recent and Christian.”

Sameer continued, “Moreover, when wars for Kingdoms happen, sometimes the losing king gives his daughter to the winning king, more like compensation. So Kings had wives. Socially many. So for Shah Jahan,it may very well be, six social and one personal – Mumtaz.”

“And the 14 children?”

“Lack of contraceptives. Even if they existed they were hated. Universally it is believed that Sex was for reproduction and not for pleasure. So even if a couple does it for pleasure, it led to pregnancy. Logic dictates more love will imply more children.”

Eesha offered a smile and said,”But why does he have to marry Mumtaz’s sister if it’s not for lust?”

“Sororate. It is a type of marriage in which a husband engages in marriage or sexual relations with the sister of his wife, usually after the death of his wife or if his wife has proven infertile. Its more of a warranty scheme. The bride’s family substitutes the deficient product given by them. Putting it in simple words, if your mom dies early, your aunt helps you and your father. The term Sororate was foriegn, but the custom was Universal.”

Eesha somehow did not like the concept of Sorarate, but what he said was convincing. Something was still bothering her. But she was ready with the next question. “Why does he have to corrupt the name ‘Tejo Mahalaya’ and make it Taj Mahal?”

“It’s respect. Moreover, that’s how names are arrived at. Satisfying everything. This Mahal is dedicated to Mum’taz’ and is built in the place of the Shiva’s temple. What more can one do? Other than clubbing both. That’s how the name. Tejo Mahalaya. Tej Mahal. Taz Mahal. Taj Mahal”

It was all intertwined. Eesha felt a new wave of excitement as she stood in silence beside the edifice and stared at Sameer. The more the truths Sameer unveiled this evening, the more the love she felt for Taj, And for him. Eesha is now getting into her sapeo-sexual nature. A behaviour of becoming attracted to or aroused by intelligence and its use!

“So anymore queries Eeshu?” Sameer asks grinning.

“A Hell lot. But I don’t bother anymore. I love Taj Mahal. I love you.” Eesha’s eyes now have a thing for him.

Before Sameer could say anything she quickly moves her arms to his back for a hug. She then moves her face towards his and finds his lips.

When nothing natural works, we look at the supernatural. Expect miracles to happen. We do hear a lot of stories about miracles which actually work. One such story was,

“I was in deep problems. Bad luck had an intimate relationship with me. But one day, I went to a temple. I sat before the almighty, kept my never-ending problems aside and prayed for a while. When I closed my eyes, I felt his presence, I felt an energy, an energy flowing deep inside me. An enlightenment, a touch. And then I opened my eyes, I felt relaxed. I was confident, with the new energy. I came out of the temple and turned into a winner. That’s the power of God.”

The story was great. But, the process involved in the story has a parallel relation with something scientific, in fact something important. When you close your eyes, focus only on a single thing and control your breath, It’s called Meditation! Meditation activates the circuits inside your brain, gives you clarity in thought and fills you with positive energy. This is what has precisely happened in the story! When we stand before an image inside a temple and pray fervently, we end up transforming ourselves through our own positive vibrations. The stone in the front miraculously turns magical. Actually, the stone is irrelevant, it’s the person who meditates in the direction of truth, gets filled with positive energy. That’s how goes the popular saying,

“The philosopher is more important than the stone!”

There has been lot of debate on who a leader is? How to become a leader and all. Even if a person leads a group or a country, he only becomes a representative. A leader is something more! It’s the crises which brings out leaders. Whenever a problem persists in a situation, a leader rises. A leader rises from a hope, a hope of positive energy to end the evil forces. Mahatma Gandhi, an ordinary lawyer, turns up into a leader from scenario where a section of people(blacks) were ill-treated in South Africa. His legacy continues in India too. Gandhi was just an example. The list is never-ending.

“Whenever there is decline in righteousness, And rise in unrighteousness, I incarnate myself, To protect the virtuous and to destroy the wicked from age to age.”

Dramatically, these verses directly indicate the definition of a leader! Vishnu is the ideological form of a leader. Or conversely we can say a leader is nothing but an ideological form of Vishnu. Solutions to the problems doesn’t come from the supernatural. It’s a waste, to wait for 10th incarnation, Kalki. The number ’10’ has passed a long back. Vishnu has infinite forms.

There is always a message conveyed in the religious scripts. Often people forget the message and worship the idol. Religion is like a river, let’s say Ganges. Water at the source Gangotri is the purest, as we proceed from the mountain to the ocean, more and more rivers mix up with the stream, more impurities, and perhaps the Hooghly word itself signifies dirty water, and the river near Calcutta is the least pure. At the point of origin, religion is the simplest and the purest, when it meant to show a way of life. Much later idol worship took its prominence. Coincidentally, to curb this, Vishnu takes his so-called ‘9’th incarnation as Gautama Buddha and gives his famous ‘8 fold path’. Apart from that we have the Buddha’s warning which fits perfectly in our context. It says:

“Only a fool looks at the finger that is pointing to the moon!”

My upcoming post will be on November 30th which is based on Taj Mahal. So is the header image.. Don’t miss that special one..

In the recent days we hear a lot of propaganda against Corruption in India. Many students have literally come on to the roads to fight against the corrupt politicians. Most of them have a feeling that our nation is against corruption and some bugs in the system are eating away the wealth. Is India really against corruption?

Let’s go into a classroom where the future of India is built and search for truth.

‘Here is an examination going on in a class. The students just got seated in their assigned positions. The Invigilator distributed the question papers and the examination started. Some of them started writing seriously and some looking around. The Invigilator got a call and left the room to attend it. The real drama starts now. The heads were no more looking into their sheets. The eyes lifted and the concentration drifted. Data transfer took pace. For some its the need and for others its greed.The place where honesty meant to be seen in the purest form, lost its way.’